Dear Editor,
Councillor Thorn in the Aug. 31 Western Wheel said, "The program is becoming part of waste services. Waste service, or garbage pickup has never been optional. We're not allowing it to be optional. It's all part of waste, it's a waste pipeline. Some of it is valuable and some of it isn't but it's still all waste."
If you think that was an argument, you would be wrong. She has just stated her conclusion and said she isn't listening anymore. She is also wrong. Waste pickup traditionally was just included in the property tax and not a separate billable item. Nothing in the MGA (the constitution for towns in Alberta) says that garbage or recycling have to be charged for extra. It also doesn't say that you can't charge more than it costs to provide those services. A number of years ago, I calculated that water and sewer brought in over $5 million in fees but cost only $3 million to run. The numbers will now be higher but the difference will be the same.
The recent public meeting had over 100 angry people who just happened to be mostly seniors and "super recyclers." They happen to think that charging an extra $90 per year as a "reward" for their good recycling was unfair. I agree, although I voluntarily pay the blue box fee and can only applaud these "super recyclers."
The sequence for this decision was administration, council and then the public. It should have been the public, then council and then implemented by the administration. Why were the bins bought before the bylaw was even passed? Why was a public meeting called only after council passed the bylaw at first reading?
We can fix this mess by just amending the bylaw to have the recycle stay voluntary. Nothing less is acceptable.
David Clark
Okotoks
